Bad Mojo in the Mojave
Mojave Desert Once part of an ancient inland sea, the Mojave desert was formed by volcanic action and by materials deposited by the Colorado River. Now, it is a vista of mountains, boulders, washes, joshua trees, and cacti. Clean air, sunny days, star filled nights, outstanding views, abundant wildlife, rockclimbing, hiking, biking, and relaxation make it a favorite day trip for the city-weary residents of Los Angeles. Edwards Air Force Base once attracted visitors to see the space shuttles landing, but the base was shut down years ago during the federal government defense cutbacks. Most of the visitors, though, are simply passing through on their way to and from the City of Sin, Las Vegas. It's been all over the news; the Type-91 hybrid energon/fusion reactor is making its slow, delicate passage from MIT to its permanent installation in San Francisco; it's intended to take much of the power load off Autobot City; Earth is once again starting to rely on herself, rather than her oversized mechanical allies. Three police cars are leading the convoy to clear the traffic, and the reactor's main torus is carried upon a huge, thirty-wheeled unit that's both hauled by a truck and self-powered, ensuring the levelest, stablest possible platform for the delicate machinery. Three cop cars bring up the rear and the entire thing is festooned with flashing lights. In case of the inevitable Decepticon attempt to steal the thing, the EDC has provided two exo-suited escorts... Exo-Armor Pegasus is flying alongside the convoy, the young pilot idling humming to himself. Despite recent happenings, he's actually in a pretty good mood. <> he comments over his comlink. <> Exo-Armor Warthog Tank is taking the rear of the convoy with its AI pilot doing most of the driving. Noah, for his bit is listening onto broadcasts and frequencies so is somewhat distracted. But, hearing a con attempt on the convoy ahead of time will help. <> Noah asks over a spare com frequency. From Exo-Armor Pegasus , Jayson Redfield chuckles a bit. <> Inevitable is an understatement! It wouldn't be an episode without the Decepticons butting their pistons in where they don't belong. Besides, that fusion energon reactor would go a -long- way towards getting Trypticon back on his feet. Not to mention keeping it away from their enemies and their obnoxious little squishy allies. From the desert trench he'd half-hidden himself in Carjack peeked over the edge to watch the convoy approach through a pair of digital-imaging binoculars. "Eehehe. Right on time, right on the mark. 3... 2... 1!" Followed by the appropriate mad cackling as he hits the switch on the control box held in his other hand. A series of 'explosions' go off along a stretch of the road in front of the progression. But these aren't mere bombs, oh no! As the glittering fog clears into the air a slick coating of super-frozen ice courtesy of multiple liquid nitrogen dispensers now covered the pavement! Maybe even catch those front cop cruisers in the disabilitating deep freeze! At the very least that's a very big, very slick hazard they likely don't want to risk crossing too fast with such sensative hardware. And liquid-nitro is cold enough even in the heat of the desert it isn't going to be thawing soon... Carjack sprawls backwards in his ditch as he cackles in appropriately evil manner. "I -told- them I'd find a use for all that liquid nitrogen they stole!" Lurking in wait in the desert, half-camoflaged by blown sand, sits a robot tiger. He's waiting for the convoy to come within range before he bursts from cover. "Brilliant plan, Carjack! Truly worthy of Decepticon enginuity!" And soon, Cackle comes zipping out from behind a sand dune, kicking up twin trails of dust with her wheels. She soon pops up into her robot mode...at which point the evil scientist brings out a rather...odd looking device. "But now, watch a demonstration of my MOLECULAR DESTABILIZER!" And she fires a wide beam at the road BEHIND the convoy...and suddenly, the asphalt begins to...melt! "Through the proper application of SCIENCE, I have lowered the melting point of the road considerably, turning it into an instant, inescapable quagmire! MWA HA HA! I can't wait to test it on a live target!" and with that, she turns the weapon on the convoy, pulls the trigger... ...and the thing just goes *FZZZT* and starts smoking. "Oh slag, I knew I should've installed a redundancy plasma converter. Ah well, that's prototypes for you." Exo-Armor Warthog Tank stops, its AI giving off a sharp thrilling sound to its pilot. "What? Oh great..." he says, grabbing the controls which begin to glow and come online again. <> he says, not sure exactly how to respond with a road turning to liquid under his armor. Thankfully, it's not touching the roadway so god bless hovertanks. Noah skims the armor out of the quagmire and transforms, hefting its rifle off its back. Exo-Armor Warthog Tank transforms into its Exo-Armor Warthog Robot mode. Noah Wolfe says, "Alert, EDC convoy 316 under attack. I got at least two cons, maybe more attacking." ENC-55 Encore says, "Echo November Charlie-Five-Five, Encore here. I am one-five minutes from your location, just taking off from Autobot City" From Exo-Armor Pegasus , Jayson Redfield narrows his eyes at the sight of the "explosions". <> And then the asphalt of the road starts to melt. <> He speeds up the Pegasus to take a look at the situation in front of the convoy. <> Noah Wolfe says, "Right, we'll try to hold them off. We're stuck, liquid road in back, frozen road in front." Jayson Redfield says, "We'll save some of the fun for you, Encore." AC130U Spooky II Gunship is sitting on the runway in his altmode when a call goes out on NEST. He's just finished unloading the ingredients he needs for a fresh batch of enershine - but when he receives a mayday, he changes his plans and turns around, taking to the air. Flying low and fast, he heads towards the Convoy's location at full speed, not getting above 3000ft. It'll take him about fifteen minutes to arrive. He can be seen almost the moment he takes off - letting both the EDC and the Cons know that there's backup on the way; the C130's unique shape is unmistakable, and if it's coming from Autobot City, there's only two Autobots that shape, and Fanfare's surely not to be the one wading into a fight...! ENC-55 Encore says, "Roger roger on that one." "Hm! Carjack, I thought you said this would be INTERESTING! All I see are primitive hoo-man battle suits! Pale imitations of our own transforming technology!" she hmms, and then brings out her mighty null-ray projector- at which point she sights in on...Noah! He's closer, and more tank-y. This weapon proves to be more reliable than her last, as it sends a purple beam of energy RIGHT at Noah, just as she designed it to! "Feel the wrath of DECEPTICON SCIENCE, puny earth-germ! Then run away so we don't have to waste any more ammunition." Robot Tiger bursts out of hiding and charges at the Pegasus. "Hey squishie, you shouldn't be out here!" He tries knocking the exo over. Carjack stops giggling to himself and glances up, only seeing a couple of Exos as they react to the rear road being melted into goo by the other evil genius. Pffft. No Autobots. Yet. It's always yet. Time to do some evil science and do it quickly. While normally he's the Medic in these things, apparently Carjack has decided to play Engineer for the night, pressing another control on his remote. "Turrets going up!" Several generic little gun stands pop out of the desert ground, locking down and spraying out random laser shots around the convoy. Carjack yips as one stray bolt shoots just over his head, and shakes the remote. "Gah, should of calibrate this better!" Unpainted buffed steel Tetrajet is once again minding his own business, flying along. Rob Zombies Dragula blasting out of cockpit. Yes hes just minding his own business when he apparantly flies right over a combat scene. "Whuuu?" he asks himself as he banks around and drops down for a closer look. "Hey!" Jayson yelps as Rampage attacks him. The attack, of course, is unsuccessful. "Bad kitty! Get outta here!" Before he can retaliate, however, he's hit with a a blast from Carjack. But he decides to still go after Rampage. A blade extends from the exo's wrist, and Jayson attempts to stab the Predacon with it. From Exo-Armor Warthog , ZOT! The blast from Cackle's weapon hits Noah's Warthog and much like Luke's Snowspeeder from Empire Strikes Back, blue electricity crackles across his controls. Noah touches a handle and gets zotted for his trouble, burning his hand. "YEeeeowww!" he yelps, pulling his hand back. The armor, having been hit by the blast, thusly falls over letting the wild blasts fly over his head from the turrets. "Oh jesus...we're out gunned here..." he says, plugging a device into a bit of his controls to bleed out the energy. He rolls the armor onto its belly and crawls up to a transport to lean against the rig. The rifle of his is just out of reach so he pops his head and arm over the top of the flat bed hover truck. A gatling laser cannon pops up from his forearm and begins spraying rounds in the directions of the cons, namely the one who null rayed him. AC130U Spooky II Gunship arrives on the combat-scene and immediately drops his tail door, a klaxxon sounding in synchrony with a red flashing light. When the door is dropped the alarm ceases sounding and the red light turns green. The Loadmaster hologram salutes Crosscheck. "You are GO for paradrop, Crosscheck." <> he declares over local radio. <> Crosscheck took a ride aboard Encore because, thanks to Vector Sigma's sense of humor, he doesn't have a vehicle mode like, pretty much every other cybertronians. I mean come on, even Shockwave's gun mode can fly! Looking out of the plane, the scientist looks down and ajust his repulsor belt. "I'm going in." he simply comments before jumping out of the plane. Crosscheck lands on the highway, pieces of concret flying around him. His optical visor quickly survey the situation, spotting the decepticon who just arrived on the scene. Raising his pistol, he fires a quick shot at Windshear (pew pew). As the scientist jumps out on his repulsor belt, the Autobot banks and gets a look at what's going on. Picking his target, he fixes his aim on Carjack, his minigun cycling up to speed before spraying a burst towards the Decepticon medic! Unpainted buffed steel Tetrajet was just getting a good look at what was going on when hes hit with some weird laser and feels himself graying out a bit. Now the Tetrajet is still heading downward toward the middle of the fight but with absolutely no control. "Whaugh!" Carjack was just about to climb out of his trench when gatling fire tears across it, tumbling over backwards again as several shots shatter the desert turf he was standing on. It spares him from getting plastered, but the volley still mows down the turrets he had set up in pretty little explosive displays. A few bits of shrapnel clattered off the rim of the mad doctor's firefighter-style helmet as he peeks back up. "Torque it, should of armored them better too!", he complains to no one in particular, and jumps back out of his ditch. "I'm gonna make you regret sticking your props into our pursual of SCIENCE, Autobum!" Pulling a vial out of storage he loads it into his pistol, raises it with both hands and fires the rocket-propelled needle filled with who knows what up at the plane. "By using YOU for the experimenting!" Robot Tiger dances aside from the lunge of the blade. "Bad human! No cookie!" the mecha-tiger taunts. He raises a paw and tries batting the blade from the Exo's grasp. "Ack!" Cackle ducks down beneath- but too late, as Noah's suit riddles her with fire! She grumbles, and then flicks a switch on her ray projector- going for a more...straightforward approach. "You know, I don't LIKE killing humans." she notes, mock-sweetly. "It's a waste of my talents! Just give us the reactor and you an live!" she says, and starts heading towards the carrier truck! Crosscheck doesn't waste any time as his target drops towards the ground. He raises both arms above his head. At first nothing seems to happen but suddenly to small energy fields start to grow from his hands. They merge as they expend to swallow Decepticons and who ever may be near them at the moment. The effort seems the be draining and Crosscheck drops to one knee as the field disappears. AC130U Spooky II Gunship spots Carjack taking aim and snap-rolls, a maneuver his frame really isn't designed for - but one that works! He chuckles quietly and takes aim with his Bofors gun, taking a few moments to let his crosshairs settle on the Con; if he's gonna shot at Encore, he'd better be ready to take the 'flak' in return. Flak is literal in this case; the 40mm cannon was originally designed as an AA gun.It sends out a five-round burst set for proximity detonation, the fuse arming just infront and behind the Decepticon; in theory, providing more of a chance to hit. Or, if the aiming mechanism has another glitch, more chance to hit a buddy. He curses quietly as Crosscheck's draining fields cycle through him <> From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe gets jolted from the small thumps against the armor. Noah flinches in pain, the jolts having a bigger effect on him than his armor. At this point, Noah hates science. He calls out over his speakers, "I'm under orders to protect this truck and I will...to the best of my abilites." The armor drops to the ground on its belly and fires off several shots from its rifle sending red bursts of light at Cackle. He clicks over to his radio, <> Exo-Armor Pegasus merely jerks back, away from Rampage. "I don't *want* a cookie if it's from *you*." He ascends a little ways into the air before coming down abruptly, in the process checking his energy levels. <> He frowns a bit as he hears Encore chide Crosscheck over the broadband. <> Then, to Noah, he says, <> Cackle shudders and spasms under the strange effects of Crosscheck's beam...but this causes her to jitter out of the way of Noah's laser blast! How convenient. Cackle stops for a moment once the effects wear off, and she looks down at herself. "Well, that was...interesting." she mulls- and then looks back up at the approaching Autobots. "Aha, a PROPER opponent! You, Autobot, what's your name? You tried some sort of energy dissapator, yes? Well, why don't you try feeling what a REAL energy dissapator is like? MWA HA HA!" and she slaps a fresh power cell into her null ray projector, and fires! Unpainted buffed steel Tetrajet slowly comes out of his daze just in time to see hes about to slam into the ground. With screaming afterburners and metal screaming internally at the Gs, the Tetrajet pulls up as hard and as vertical as he can completely oblivious that he was just shot at again. Dust and dirt fly up everywhere from the force of his afterburners and in the haze he just kicked up, Windy banks around and just fires blindly. Robot Tiger gets kicked in the paw! "OH, that's it!" the Predacon snarls, and proceeds to attempt a mauling of the Exo. Flying into a furious rage, the Tiger snaps and attempts to slash the Pegasus. "Muwaaahaha -- Ah slag!" Carjack stops in mid-laugh to stare a moment as the Spooky points its BFG towards him, and dives for cover as a massive chunk is blown out of the ground with enough force that even with avoiding being hit the shockwave of sand flying through the air in impact sends him rolling. Followed by a jolt of electricity crackling through his frame as the disruptive wave washes over him. ".. ooh ooh! Enemy Scientist on the field!", the mad medic practically croons. Then points back at Encore. "I'll dismantle you later!" Sprinting off in the direction of the others. Carjack shoves a different vial into his gun. "You! Feel the wrath of SUPERIOR DECEPTICON SCIENCE!" A needle of something orange and glowing like it could be radioactive is fired towards Noah's EXO to keep him busy while Cackle goes after the other scientist. "And then... I don't know, go die or something!" That he's leaving himself a likely very open target to the plane overhead isn't even crossing his mind at the moment. Crosscheck mutters as his field goes out of control and strikes his allies, "Sorry about that." Perhaps he should seek to adjust the control chip of the device, it obviously needs some adjustment. As he gets back on his feet, he is struck by an energy ray that nearly drain all his energon reserve! The scientist grunts and seeks the one who just that. "Not bad... for a low level technician. Let's see how you handle my lasted invention." From a subspace pocket, Crosscheck pulls a huge and nasty looking cannon that he places over his shoulder like a bazooka. He takes a good aim at Cackle before pulling the trigger. Exo-Armor Pegasus again ducks away from Rampage's paw. "Gotta do better than that!" he taunts in a near-singsong tone. He's hit by Windshear's weapon fire, but it barely fazes him, and he keeps his attention on Rampage. He opens fire. "Eat this, you overgrown house cat!" AC130U Spooky II Gunship snarls quietly as his shots go wide, changing to his smaller, rapid-fire minigun again. It's worth noting that his /real/ BFG, the 105mm gun, appears just to be a painted stick right now. He scowls slightly to himself, knowing he /needs/ that big gun to hit if it's going to turn this engagement. The Cons have the EDC outnumbered and outgunned, after all; even with Crosscheck, the chances of them fighting the Cons off are low. The 7.62mm weapon makes a rather rude noise as it fires, the individual gunshots blurring together into one solid sound. <> Exo-Armor Warthog gets its arm hit with the needle, which arcs and crackles when it impales the arm. Noah screams as feed back flows over his controls and up his arms. He coughs and hangs his head with wisps of smoke curl from his slightly fried body, "I...I won't do much better than this." He transforms the armor and hits the throttle hard. The armor roars to life and charges at Cackle with its blunt nose, ready to run anything it hits over. Robot Tiger gets peppered by shots. "Oh, overgrown housecat, am I? Well, you're an undergrown hair-deficient ape!" he snaps at Jayson. His own machine guns slide open and start firing. "Let's see if you can dance in that exo!" ENC-55 Encore says, "Prioritise targets for me, please." Crosscheck says, "Shoot those with purple insigna!" Cackle ducks beneath Crosscheck's disintegrator ray! "Hah! Maybe next time, you should work on your accuracy- ACK!" and before she can gloat more, or get closer to the reactor on the truck, Noah quite abruptly runs her over! "Augh! Puny human germ! Get off of me!" she says, even as the the tank pushes her across the battlefield. "I will destroy you with my brilliance! DESTROY YOOOOU!" she cries out, and hammers away at the hull of the vehicle! ENC-55 Encore says, "No shit, Crosscheck. Who's the highest target priority?" Jayson Redfield says, "Carjack is the highest-ranking Decepticon here, and probably the one who froze the road. I'd say him." Noah Wolfe says, "What he said..." ENC-55 Encore says, "Roger roger." Carjack grins wickedly as the Exo suffers from the experimental concoction, pumping his free fist in the air. "Three cheers for field testing!" But the celebration is cut short by minigun fire riddling him from behind and sending the medic sprawling face first into the ground. "Mmph!", he sputters as he pushs himself up and spits some dirt out. Then turns partway to glare at the plane overhead as he gets up. "What's the matter, ya overgrown blender? Don't like me picking on your little friends, huh? Don't like the pathetic little oil globs being tormented? Too Bad! Just for that you can watch 'em get scrapped one by one!" Mock mock, taunt taunt, even with a bigass gun likely being pointed at you. It's good to be evil!... err, bad to be... oh you know what I mean. Pulling his main weapon off his back and deploying its armor-shredding cutter blades, Carjack leaves Cackle dealing with the exo-tank for the moment, and lunges at Crosscheck with his favorite 'operating' tool hissing and clanking together like a hungry maw. "She's MY assistant, no one gets to blow up Cackle for science but me!" Unpainted buffed steel Tetrajet isnt sure just who he hit in his freeforalllaserfest though the dust cloud he stirred up but he does it again. Just because he can. Crosscheck is disappointed that his new toy missed the mark, but thanks to his faceplate, it's not showing off on his face. The scientist puts the weapon back into its subspace pocket and draws his pistol. He's looking for a suitable target when a MAD SCIENTIST lunges at him, slicing into his armor and damaging it. The scientist grunts in pain as he takes a step back to put some space between him and Carjack. He then pulls his sword from it's compartment on his leg and turns it on. "You obviously need assitance..." he replies before swinging his weapon at Carjack's face. And suddenly, hell arise as Crosscheck his struck by Windshear's attack. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe coughs and gets bounced around the cockpit from each punch on the armor plating. Dents start forming on the hovertank, but still stays together. Thankfully, the wild shots zip by harmlessly, lucky him. Noah frowns and spits out a bit of blood from his mouth. "I'm not done yet, EAT THIS!" And he pulls the trigger, sending a blast of energy out the main turret in front of Cackle. He hardly ever uses the main cannon and just squints his eyes, hoping that he doesn't blow up either. AC130U Spooky II Gunship snarls quietly as Windshear strafes the area, banking hard. <> he announces loudly, turning right for a change - and with his hard banking, this swings Windshear into the fire arc of that Bofors gun. The 40mm cannon speaks five times, setted to 'gated proximity' - meaning the fuses on those big rounds arm just infront of, and just behind him - in theory, spraying the Seeker with shrapnel and fragments! Exo-Armor Pegasus is peppered by Rampage's gunfire. Jayson winces slightly, but otherwise ignores the attack, as well as the one from Windshear. He raises the exo's right arm, a gun emerging from it, and aims between Rampage's eyes. "Au revoir, mon ennemi." He fires. Carjack jerks backwards as the sword is drawn, but it's not fast enough to keep from getting sliced across the chest by it. With a huff the manic medic backpedals away "Aaahahaha! You can't stop us from taking the reactor, and after we're done I'll use your hollowed out chassis for a barbeque pit!" Nevermind they don't actually eat. After a moment Carjack grins wider at the thought. "In fact, I'm not going to bother waiting." Transforming, he deploys his roof-mounted flame cannon... just in time for Encore's barrage to hit the ground around them, throwing up clouds of smoke and sand. "Frag, I can't see him!" ... Unfortunately, it doesn't stop him from opening fire, spewing blasts of flame in random directions trying to find the Autobot scientist. Robot Tiger gets capped right between the eyes! The furious Tiger transforms and Rampage draws his Sword. "Maybe I ought to start cutting limbs off that fancy suit of yours!" Rampage rises up into his robot form. "Eek!" Cackle ducks beneath the tank's cannon...if barely, and she soon backpedals, looking over the situation. The 'good guys' have arial superiority! (Or at least a bigger plane). And tanks! And...there's just so much to keep track of! IT doesn't help that, in her retreat, she sprawls over the ice-field that Carjack put over the highway! "Whoooaooa!" she says, and slip-slides about, landing in an undignified heap some distance away! "Uh. Commander Carjack? If I may make a HUMBLE suggestion...my calculations are rapidly showing that this reactor may not be worth the resources it takes to aquire it! It is primitive HOO-MAN technology, after all. Hardly better than rubbing sticks together!" Unpainted buffed steel Tetrajet notices another shot aimed his way and he flings himself into a corkscrew spin.. only to avoid a shot that went somewheres else in the end. "What was that?" he asks no one in particular as he swings back around. Crosscheck is struck by a couple of shots fired by Carjack and he stumbles back, trying to avoid the others. His armor damaged, even the lightest hits hurt a lot. Oils and other fluids leak from his many wounds as he draws his pistol he aims it at the Decepticon while moving back to get out of range. Exo-Armor Pegasus is slashed right across the chest, leaving a sparking gash. Jayson winces again; he's definitely going to have a few bruises when this fight is done. <> he says over his comlink, <> As he waits for a reply, he throws a punch at Rampage's face. "Eat my exo-fist, scum!" AC130U Spooky II Gunship snarls as his shots go awry, Windshear dodging them as the bofors kicks on its imperfect mountings. Snarling quietly, he pours on the power and attempts to T-bone the Seeker, hoping he's too distracted with controlling his roll to avoid the sudden blindside from the Fat Albert! <> he asks. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe has nothin. No matter how much firepower he puts into the fight, he's getting more and more injured. Noah swings the hovertank around and hits the throttle on high. <> he says over the radio. Crash Response Truck 's voice emits in rautious evil laughter from the truck as it's introducing Crosscheck to one of his favorite little toys. "I know that Cackle!" He snaps back at his 'assistant'. Or he was just calling her that since she's of lower rank in the same division. Who knows with Decepticons. "But we can make it work harder, charge better, run faster and be stronger! We have the technology. DECEPTICON TECHNOLOGY! Glorious science at the expense of anyone else in the univer--" He's cut off as laser blasts rattle across the front of the truck, reminding him he has less armor in this mode as part of the windshield shatters. And Encore goes doing a Ramjet impersonation on Windshear. "... Though on the other servo, your suggest may have some merit to it." Annoyed at his rant being interrupted, he points his pistol defensively at Crosscheck and fires. "And I thought I already told you to DIE in the NAME of SCIENCE?!" The emergency response truck opens up into a robot. "Of COURSE it has merit! I'm BRILLIANT!' Cackle says- with some trying, she gets back up to her feet- and then looks off after Noah. "Hah! See, we have them on the run! Don't worry- I, Cackle, shall PURSUE this puny hoo-man germ and make an example of him!" and with that, Cackle transforms...and speeds off in a different direction than Noah. "I will intercept him in an AMBUSH! Uh, later." she explains. Definitely not retreating in the face of the enemy. Oh no. "No way I ain't eating that!" Rampage contradicts, even though he ends up getting the fist right in his tiger-face. Which is just below his real face. He counters with his own punch. Unpainted buffed steel Tetrajet was pulling out of his evasive move when Encore asks if he knows what it feels like to be hit by a truck. "No." he says, "I dont play with the Stunticons and Prime can't catch --" and its then thats hes alsmmed by the Fat Albert. He oofs and is toppled over, skidding onto the ground in jet mode. He hits the ground and skips like a stone across water for quite a few yards before he comes to a rest. The force of the punch actually knocks the Pegasus onto its back, but Jayson reacts quickly, and kicks out at Rampage with both of the exo's feet as the hands launch it off the ground. Crosscheck ducks under the burst of syringe (he really doesn't want to know what they would have done to him). I'm really sorry but I'm not planning to die and you are no scientist...at best your a lab technician. The autobot gets back on his feet and quickly ponders his next move. The logical move wold be to try to finish Carjack but Jason is alone facing a predacon in single combat. Deciding he must help the EDC pilot, the scientist takes a great personal risk by exposing himself to Carjack while firing the last shot of his disintegrator at Rampage. Jayson Redfield says, "Thanks, Crosscheck!" Crosscheck says, "No problem friend." AC130U Spooky II Gunship grins quietly and banks around, taking a few seconds to take aim at Carjack. The Bofors gun speaks again, more often than it would usually in a fight, and sends out its payload of high-explosive shells down towards Carjack, five low, plosive POM noises, each possibly heralding death, or at least grievous injury, to the Decepticon below. <> He growls. <> Rampage gets kicked and shot at the same time! Flailing angrily, the Predacon fires his lighting rifle at Crosscheck, who dared interlope into his combat! "You'll pay for that, Autobot," he snarls. Unpainted buffed steel Tetrajet hears Encore's comment and just flips his aerolons alternately in responce. The slam unsettled him so he ends up doing what Encore told him to..he stays there. Carjack lets out an exasperated sigh as Cackle.... well, she's being herself, for the most part. It's both entertaining and frustrating at the same time. But then Crosscheck goes to turn his attention on the Predacon instead... and while no spy, Carjack is not the best of opponents to turn your back on. With a wicked grin he pulls out his shock-pads, slipping them onto his fists like brass knuckles and starts to sneak up behind the scientist while he's blasting at the cat. Then there's the whistling of high speed projectiles overhead, and he barely gets a chance to look shocked before the Bofors shells slam home. The secondary sound of crunching and screeching would be the medic landing a really impressive distance away due to not being a very heavy target. "... Ow..." With a hiss of pain he gets partway up. "Bah! Fine, keep your stupid little reactor! And choke on a fuel rod or something! We'll just make a better one! With ener-booze and alien hookers to celebrate!" Pause. ".. Hell, forget the reactor and hookers, I just want something to make the ringing in my head stop. Get the hell out of here and whatever the torque you want!" Ranting done, the manic medic transforms and speeds off. Fortunately for not being heavily armored that truck is -very- fast. Taking the chance, Jayson charges the Pegasus toward Rampage while the Predacon is focused on Crosscheck. In the process, one of the wrist blades extends, and Jayson attempts to literally stab Rampage in the back. "Tiger, tiger, burning bright," he murmurs, "in the forests of the night..." Crosscheck is caught in the open with a useless cannon on his shoulder and an angry Predacon facing him...not a comfortable position. Fortunately, Rampage's retaliation goes wild. Suddenly, he hears high velocity impacts behind him, and turns in time to see Carjack sneaking on him... and running away. Rampage should now be managable for Jayson, so Crosscheck turns his attention on Windshear...by firing his pistol at him! AC130U Spooky II Gunship transforms and drops down to land near (but not too close) to the truck. He drops to a crouch to absorb the impact and uses the energy to spring off into a sprint, heading towards Rampage. As he gets close he leaps into the air and attempts to deliver an elbow-drop on the Predacon's back! "Anyone order a can of whoop-ass?" Rampage realizes he's outnumbered, and the point is driven home with the next attacks. "I just remembered, I have to go home and watch Jersey Shore," he says. He takes off and flies away, headed for the base. "Catch you losers later." Unpainted buffed steel Tetrajet is having a great day. Even sitting still he got missed. He decides to start playing Rob Zombie more often in the furture. Crosscheck misses his target but that is not unusual, especially after the beating he took. However, after seeing Rampage retreating, his only remaining option, as far as targets are concerned, is Windshear. Deciding that it's time for a more aggressive approach, he goes out of his cover and fires and pistol again and again. Encore grins at Crosscheck and begins that deceptively slow-looking lumbering sprint towards Windshear. It's honestly like watching a pyroclastic flow or an incoming tsunami; while the Autobot isn't moving, really, all that fast, but there's a certain inexorability to the charge, like that of a sumo wrestler. "I reckon you wanna back off, don't you Windy?" he declares as he charges. Of course, with Windy being the stubborn bastard that he is, it's unlikely that the Seeker will run - so when he gets close enough, he pulls back a foot and attempts to plant it straight in Windy's cogs. Unpainted buffed steel Tetrajet gets pinged in the side by a tiny laser shot. "Thanks for blowing the dust off that part Autobot." he rumbles and then he feels the ground start shaking a bit. Oh this doesnt seeom good. He hees Encore's comment and snaps out of jet mode just in time to avoid the kick to his cogs that /was/ there just a fraction of a second earlier. Once in jet mode, Windshear looks around and sees hes alone again. He looks at Encore whos a lot closer to him then hed prefer right now and he lifts into the air. "Actually yea I think I might want to head out. Maybe next time, Encore." and with that he transforms and leaves. ENC-55 Encore says, "Now let's get that reactor back to San Francisco!" Jayson Redfield chuckles a bit. "Your job involves helping 'human germs'? Sweet." ENC-55 Encore says, "You're not germs, Jayson. You're our allies. You're humans, this is your world. We're guests on it." Encore returns to the front of the convoy and walks ahead of it with his 40mm rifle held low and ready, an extra guard for the convoy! Jayson Redfield says, "Glad you feel that way. Well, anyway, you're right, we should get the reactor to the city." Exo-Armor Pegasus is visibly damaged; multiple wounds are smoking or sparking, but the important thing is that the armor is still functioning. Jayson positions himself behind the convoy, hoping no more Decepticons show up. <> He sighs. ENC-55 Encore says, "You OK there, Jayson? Yer looking a bit beat up!" Jayson Redfield says, "Oh, it's nothing. A few bruises and cuts, but I'm fine otherwise. The Pegasus looks worse than I do!" Jayson Redfield chuckles again. Autobot ***AUTOBOT SPINNY*** Encore's face appears on the screen, a Victory Dance cigar smouldering between his dental plates. "Awright guys, Encore 'ere. I'd just got back from a routine supply run - I was picking up chemicals I need for my Enershine - and was sat on the runway when I got a distress call from the EDC. Turns out they were running a Type-91 hybrid energon/fusion reactor for the powerplant down from MiT by road, and the Decepticons wanted a lookie at it. I picked up Crosscheck and poured on the power to render my assistance to the convoy, which was under attack from Carjack, Cackle, Rampage, and Windshear. We managed to rout the Decepticons, and by the time you watch this message, the reactor should be at the power plant and being installed." Encore takes a pull of his Victory Dance and blows a smoke-ring as he reaches for the off button ***AUTOBOT SPINNY*** A FEW DAYS LATER... Greg MacLeod is in the Hangar Bay, ready to welcome an Autobot with an appointment. Upgrades! Greg is eager to get to work on an Autobot, which is a nice change from the generally conversationally lacking Exo suits. He's got all his tools ready and a bay prepped for Encore to come in and have a seat. AC130U Spooky II Gunship touches down outside a short while after the call goes off and pulls into the hangar, remaining in his altmode, as that's the one that's going to be worked on. He stops at the threshold of the hangar, waiting to be directed into position. He's probably carrying Hot Spot with him, to help with the fitting of the parts. < cruises into the indicated spot on two engines and then shuts them down, his pilot hologram giving the crewman a thumbs-up. The loading ramp is dropped slowly, revealing that he carries a full suite of crew holograms. Oh, and Hot Spot! <> He comments, with a grin. <> Hot Spot grins a bit, feeling better in knowing that he's got some means of being useful to this little project. "Figured since you're modifying human weaponry to suit cybertronian technology it wouldn't hurt to have aid on both sides of the operation. And First Aid... has other medical preoccupations at the time being." That said he walks over to the bay, looking around and hmming a bit. "These aren't important are they? We can temporarily move them." He picks up a set of lockers and moves them to side a few feet with little issue. "Okay, now we've got room to work." He drops down into the opened spot, transforming into his station mode, the opening up several tool and part compartments as the work-arms unfold. "Not much of an engineer myself, but hey, at least I've got most of the hardware one would need to convert a Terran weapon to cybertronian fittings." AC130U Spooky II Gunship adds <> "I think so," Greg says, "Okay, let'ts get working on that first. He goes over to the Bofors and checks the hinges. "These look wonky," he says, "We should replace them with something that won't flip-flop all over the place when it's firing." He gets out his tools and starts working on it. James Bailey turns his head at the Autobot voices and then walks over (after locking his PC of course - no telling what those crazy EDC interns would get up to on an officer's account). He moves over to stand near Greg and watches curiously. After a bit he raises a small PDA-like device, pointing it at bits of the Bofors weapons system. Pausing with his thumb over the 'capture' button, he looks over at Encore and Hot Spot. "Er -- you guys mind?" AC130U Spooky II Gunship 's pilot hologram stands from the seat and walks back through to where Greg is. It's clear that his self-repair systems, with help, have fixed the damage; there are still a few places in the floor and ceiling of the gundeck where the structure shows through. <> The console in the center of the repair bay flickers and blinks in sync with Hot Spot's voice. "While we're at it we should check the targetting systems and stabilizers. Best to find and solve as many problems now as we can instead of having to pick him apart later for something we overlooked." The tip of one arm reconfigures itself into a diagnostic probe as it reachs over Greg's shoulder to scan where the gun station controls are wired into Encore's electronics. "You know," the Protectobot muses mostly to himself as they work, "I don't get why you only have a gun port on one side. Wouldn't two be easier than having to turn around all the time?" Greg MacLeod fiddles with the mountings. "Yeah, this won't do at all," he says, "This is why the guns are all going whacko when they're being fired. They're swinging a little too freely." He gets to work on some tightening. AC130U Spooky II Gunship answers <> The hologram watches Greg intently as he works. The actual problem comes quite clear when he tries to tighten the bolts; somewhere in the conversion process from his original Cybertronian heavy gunship to AC130U form, a piece designed to hold a light laser has been used to hold a heavy autocannon... and it's been weakening gradually all this time. As the bolts and mechanisms are tightened, there's a faint creak of distressed metal followed by the PLINK of something shearing. James Bailey takes a few pictures of the weapon and how it's mounted, then lowers his device and turns his attention to what Greg's doing for a moment. He nods absently at Hot Spot and then at Encore. "Besides, in the old days, they used to use this model for air support. That meant it'd have to keep circling the engagement zone -- so why not align the guns so that shoots at the same time?" James completes his little circuit and ends up next to Greg again. Protectobot Repair Base ooohs. "That does make sense, then." Followed by a digital wince at the sound of metal parts snapping. "I know the sound of over-stressed structural intergerty anywhere, Greg. I think you're going to have to replace part of the housing frame in itself if it's been worn down." The diagnostic arm swivels towards where Greg is working. "Geez, looks like the conversion used the improper weapon mooring." Greg MacLeod uh-ohs as he hears the shearing and plinking sound. "Yeah we'll have to replace some of this," he says, "It's worn and not the right size." He goes to find some mountings of proper size and shape. AC130U Spooky II Gunship helps a bit and nods <> "Hold on, I'm gonna need my full strength to lift that thing." Standing back up into robot mode Hot Spot reachs over, wrapping one arm around the barrel to cradle it and reaching the other hand up under the body of the cannon itself. "Okay, loosen her up." Greg MacLeod finds the proper bearings and mountings, and brings them so that they can be easily installed when the old ones are removed. "And let's see if we can't do something about the targeting, too, while we're at it," he adds. There's a couple cameras in his pile of parts and he places them aside for installation as well. AC130U Spooky II Gunship blinks quietly at the cameras; a new development for him. He begins to disconnect the gun from its mountings as best he can, though for some of the bolts, which are either warped, twisted, sheared or otherwise deformed and locked in place. <> he mutters. <> Hot Spot frowns a bit. "Okay Encore, this may sting a little... but seeing as the mounting is junk anyways..." Hot Spot braces himself, puts his back and that mighty strength into it to just pull the remaining restraining bolts loose along with the weapon. They're already about to break, might as well get it out of the way. "There, I think I've got it." Carefully he sets the cannon aside on a workbench until it's ready to be put back in. AC130U Spooky II Gunship inhales sharly, or at least makes the noise of doing so, wincing slightly as he feels the gun ripped free. It seems to have hurt some. he mutters softly, the gun fighting Hot Spot the whole way, until it finally comes free. <> Hot Spot says, "Sometimes it takes a bit of tough love and percussive maintenance!" Though after the moment of posturing Hot Spot ums, glancing off to the side warily. "Don't tell First Aid I said that, he gets a little cross-wired when even non-sentient machines are being handled roughly. Even if it is necessary."" James Bailey steps forward and nudges Greg. "Take a break, MacLeod," he murmurs. Then he turns to a few EDC techs who are loitering around watching the proceedings. By now the upgrade procedure has drawn a small crowd. James eyes a few of them sternly, then points at a pair and crooks his finger. "Time for a little hands-on experience." The pair seem startled, but move forward to take Greg's place for a few minutes. AC130U Spooky II Gunship sighs softly and nods a little. <> He watches James step forwards to work on the mountings, chuckling at the two called fourwards. <> Greg MacLeod comes back from his break, finishing off a mug of hot coffee. He looks brighter and more alert! "Okay, boss, I'm ready to go. Shall I start installing these cameras now, then?" He picks up some tools and gets ready. Hot Spot disconnects the old support frame from the weapon. "There we go." He then picks it up again and slides it into one of those lifts and harnesses they use for moving heavy pieces of machinery. "Now you can easily put it into place once you're ready for it." AC130U Spooky II Gunship 's hologram smiles and nods <> "Well you did need some more accuracy for your guns, right?" Greg says, "These targeting cameras will make sure you hit your mark, bang-on. What do you think?" The hologram blinks again and he nods. <> "A camera relay from the gun's point-of-view sounds like just the sort of thing he needs then." Hot Spot is about to say more, but pauses to listen to a few transmissions, and frowns slightly. "Sorry guys, but duty's calling me elsewhere. Just picked up a possible brushfire warning, and that sort of thing needs to be tamed before it spreads!" He gives the plane's side a pat as he moves out of the bay. "Don't worry Encore, Greg's a good guy, I'm sure he can handle the rest from here." He runs for the hangar exit, transforms and drives off. "They're PAVE-type," Greg says, "The latest model. The accuracy is amazing. GG-190's. You bring these to a party, it's Good Game." James Bailey raises his eyebrows at the enthusiasm. "Well, I think you're in good hands here, Encore." He heads back to what he was doing previously - uploading new algorithms into the battle computer of an Exo, apparently. Some crewmen join Greg and he shows them how to take the mountings off and replace them with the good ones. Once these are replaced and doublechecked, a crane is used to put the guns back on. After all, this is a hangar where big Exos' weapons are affixed, and the humans adapt accordingly. AC130U Spooky II Gunship chuckles quietly at James and wishes Hot-Spot well, grinning at the name of the camera systems. <> He comments, the automatic loader arms trying to help Greg fit the parts as best he can.>> As soon as the guns are in place, Greg and the technicians mount the cameras and start wiring them in to Encore's systems. "Check to see if you can get the Camera's display on your monitor," Greg says to the Autobot, "Make sure it's not fuzzy. If it's fuzzy, it means we need to fiddle with the connection." AC130U Spooky II Gunship 's hologram nods and returns to the cockpit, the camera operator hologram rezzing into existance in place at the monitor station, where the guns are aimed and fired from on the real AC130U gunship. <> "Okay, I'm just inserting that particular input plug now," Greg says. He pops the infrared feed line into the proper jack and makes sure it's in solid so it won't wiggle out when the airplane is vibrating when the motor runs. "How's that?" The hologram mimes slapping the side of the monitor until the screen defuzzes. He nods and gives a thumbs up <> Soon the work is completed. Greg's a bit sweaty from the exertion but he's fairly glowing from a job well done. "Okay, you should be good to go, there, Encore. Now go and give the Decepticons heck!" He goodnaturedly pats the Airplane on the tailsection. AC130U Spooky II Gunship grins quietly, his pilot hologram saluting Greg. <> He backs himself out of the hangar, with the help of a crewman and radios the tower for permission to take off. Once it's given, the big AC130 Autobot lumbers into the sky, tipping his wings as he passes the hangar doors in thanks, before turning back towards Autobot City... "Sure thing!" Greg says. He watches Encore go, and when the plane disappears from view, he heads back to his own quarters for a shower and a nap.